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Bluebirds At Noon Today
Many Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) gathered at the birdbath today. They live here in Virginia all year. During the summer they eat insects and there is plenty for them to eat here in the winter too, including the fruit of Eastern Red Cedar, Bayberry, Flowering Dogwood, Hawthorn, Holly, Mistletoe, Pokeberry, Serviceberry, Sumac, Winterberry, Wild Grape, Hackberry,…
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A Ristra And Snow
Next to the front door of my cabin, a ristra. Ristras are seen in New Mexico and southern Arizona. Strings of chiles hanging out to dry, for cooking and eating. Or simply to be used as a decoration. That’s the case here. A beautiful decoration representing a favorite part of this country, said to bring…
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Overnight Snow
Pure pleasure to wake up this morning to have 7.5 inches of snow and sleet covering everything as if someone had poured Marshmallow Fluff over the entire landscape. It was a busy day for the birds. I put out an extra suet feeder and loads of hulled sunflower seeds. Surely it was because of the…
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Gobbling Up The Suet
A Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) chowing down on the suet today. The suet feeder has been a very popular place with many birds feeling the chill of the season. As I sit here writing it is 19 degrees and sure to go down much further before the night is over. And perhaps they know what…
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New Year’s Eve Visitor
A Barred Owl (Strix varia) came by on New Year’s Eve. It didn’t seem to mind at all as we watched it for quite a long time, until we lost it to the darkness. The Barred Owl is native to eastern North America. An owl of medium size with a length of 16 to 25…
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Certainly Not A Sign Of Spring
Seeing a Robin (Turdus migratorius) on the second day of January is certainly not a sign of spring, particularly when there are weather forecasts of snow happening here in just a few days. Sounds for sure like good ol’ winter to me. Many Robins don’t migrate at all but stay right where they’ve been during…
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Pitch Pine Cones And Needles
These are the cones and needles of Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida). A small to medium sized tree. The needles are 3 to 5 inches long and quite stiff and sharp. They are in bundles, or fascicles, of 3. The cones are nicely round with sharp points at the end of each scale. The tree is…
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American Beech And Its Marcescent Leaves
An American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) showing off its marcescent leaves. These Beech trees create patches through the woods of pale brown areas of leaves hanging on, waiting for spring to fall to the ground. Marcescence occurs when deciduous trees, mainly Beech or Oak trees, let their leaves wither in the late fall but they fail…
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The Big Mushroom Is Still There
Back in October I did a post about a Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea). Today while out roaming about I came upon that same Puffball. Very old, looking like a ball broken open and filled with powdered cocoa. I had wondered what happened to it. Apparently not much. Just a great change in its color. From…